Charter33

and thet the rudder... it has a nose-the support on the bottom of the stern...

the rudder hinges are tipical for this type of Trabaccolo.... the rudder goes down the keel for about 1m. This has a purpose like the keel extension and makes the sailing to be more safe...
 
 

So, the last thing I would like to say about Trabaccolo before starting on description of this two kits and build logs, is something about Trabaccolo generally :

   Trabakul, trabakuo and trabakula are different names for the same vessel of the Croatian people. This is a typical two-masted sailing ship intended for sailing on the Adriatic coast, rarely seen outside the Straits of Otranto. The name itself coms from the Arabic word tabaquah, roof. It's up to 30m long, up to 6m wide and her draft is up to 2m. It can take from 60 to 200 tons. Undoubtedly a descendant of navis rotunda, round antique boats, designed exclusively for the transport of merchandise. Easy to equip, maintain and handle, was used for several purposes but these days is rarely seen, equipped with drive motor, dedicated renovated for tourism purposes.

   This picture below shows her in the real old fashion way. This is the original Trabaccolo :

So, I would like to show you some photos of Trabaccolo now…
   This old lady was the beauty of Adriatic coast… She belongs to Croat and Italian sailors and ship owners. The fact is that, many seaside families was owners of one or more Trabaccolo . The ‘head’ at the bow was the unique sign of the family who owned the ship. It was the recognition object: each family had a specific type of the ‘head’. There were no two equal heads…
 
   Italians used to colour the sails at their Trabaccolo, but the Croats were not doing this. So this was the sign of recognition of Italian and Croatian ships…
 
   Trabaccolo was always painted in many bright colors, but the hull was coated with tar very often. The upper part of the hull was painted bright. Often, there were samples composed of white, red, yellow, light blue or green colour.
 
   The sails at both Trabaccolo masts were the Lug sails. She has one or two jib sails … She had two cabins. The crew was up to four men.

Outstanding work, Paul. Your build log has become one of my first 'ports of call' when the need for inspiration arises. So much detail to take on board - keep up the great work!
 
Graham

This log was quiet for a while, but I have a number of excuses:

These are various Christmas gifts The "4-in-a-row" game took a lot of time to make (especially without a drill press):



 
This is a turned pen & pencil set (spalted olive and wenge), made for my father who loves writing. In a click-to-open box (two kinds of walnut, swiss pear inside, brass pins):

 
 
Magnetic key racks. They are made of a pretty interesting walnut plank following the grain pattern , one ended up looking like a fish. This was not the intention, but this fish was just hiding there  Milling the magnet slots was quite tricky, because the "wall" thickness should be around 0.5-0.8mm to make sure the magnet is close enough to key ring to hold it securely, and walnut is quite fragile on that thickness. One tiny measurement mistake - and the whole thing would be ruined. I ruined one, made a mistake when counting mill rotations:

Two other surived:


 
And some cheese boards are also cut following the grain, kinda fish-like as well:

I have a feeling that was the method this industrious and illustrious colleague used, Mark. i just dropped if off in her 'in tray' and she did her magic. She's usually rushed off her feet - must have been a quiet day, it was delivered to my classroom / workshop by hand, and the scale measured up true.
 
Graham

Poop Deck
 
Before starting with the poop deck, I finished some details of the bow and the forecastle. The connection between the cat-head support and the first rail. I had to remove quite a bit of wale to obtain and good fit. The 90 degree curve I made by softening the wood with water, and then left it to dry in a jig. The curve around te hull was done using heat. The blue strip is made from styrene.
 

The main top bow line bits and fore topsail sheet bits were modified to look more like the ones in Portsmouth. The former has to have two sheaves, the latter three sheaves. Both were made thicker below the bits. First the original.
 

Now the work on the Poop Deck can start.
Planking the deck is basically the same as the other decks with a 5 plank system. The main difference between this deck and the others is the tapering of the poop towards the stern, while none of the other decks have significant tapering.
I used the drawing by McKay and Longridge to help with the planking. In case of a curves or tapered deck the planks should not be cut away to a sharp point. Instead the planks should be "joggled" into the margin plank. This is how McKay draws the poop:
 

If you look at the margins of the deck, you may notice that none of the planks end at a width less than half their original size, and margin plank is one piece of timber, somewhat wider than the other planks.
 
This what I made of it:
 

 

Here is some dumb thinking. I was talking with a gentleman this morning and he explained to me what is : Stabilized wood.
 
In the Knife making business when they want a perfectly  stable wood, they use acrylic resin as a wood stabilizer. The penetration  is made by vacuum.   Could it work if I could put the model ship under vacuum?
 
Dry parts are almost done and all parts can easily be assemble or disassemble at this stage.

Hi,
 
I managed to find a local supplier of 0.5 mm brass wire and my first attempt at a frame now has the pins I mentioned earlier.
 

 
I decided to focus on the stern and to this end I've worked on the transom pieces. I made the lowest filling transom first and to be honest it was a bit of a disaster.  Subsequent attempts were more successful. 
 

 

 

 
 The filling, deck and wing transoms have been cut to profile and the joints adjusted to ensure a good fit with the inner post.  They have not yet been glued into place.  Inner surfaces have been given an initial fairing but I'm thinking of leaving the outside faces and the ends until the appropriate frames are ready.  This way I can refine the fit to the frames and they will be better supported and stronger to withstand shaping.
 
Next task will be the bow - once I've worked out which version of the Hawse to use. There seem to be two versions: 'Hawse, 1 - 5' and 'Hawsetimbers 1 - 6'. I think it's the latter .....
 
Cheers,
 
Graham.
 

A quick up-date........
 
After a bit or re-organisation the workshop now has an area dedicated to the Triton build.
 

 
The first frame has now been completed. I'm thinking about adding some pegs (tree nails?) Assuming that these would have been about an inch in diameter on the original my calculations come out at a gnats whisker over 0.5 mm diameter. I'll try and source some brass wire and see how it goes.
 

 

 
I played safe and worked on a frame from the centre of the hull (0). It currently has excess material at the top which will be trimmed later, but in the meantime this provides support for the acrylic brace that I hope will prevent any movement in the wood.
 
I've also had a go at making a height gauge for transferring vertical measurements from the plan to the model.
 

 

 
 
Cheers for now,
 
Graham.

A quick up-date........
 
After a bit or re-organisation the workshop now has an area dedicated to the Triton build.
 

 
The first frame has now been completed. I'm thinking about adding some pegs (tree nails?) Assuming that these would have been about an inch in diameter on the original my calculations come out at a gnats whisker over 0.5 mm diameter. I'll try and source some brass wire and see how it goes.
 

 

 
I played safe and worked on a frame from the centre of the hull (0). It currently has excess material at the top which will be trimmed later, but in the meantime this provides support for the acrylic brace that I hope will prevent any movement in the wood.
 
I've also had a go at making a height gauge for transferring vertical measurements from the plan to the model.
 

 

 
 
Cheers for now,
 
Graham.

Hi,
Now that the dust has settled on the start of a new school year I've managed devote a bit of time again to this project and have made some more progress ......
 
Shaping the fore and aft deadwoods was holding me up a bit as I tried to make sense of the various sectional profile drawings. My inexperience was evident as I tried to juggle the various profiles and much time was spent working through the other build logs in this section. They certainly helped, and then I came across and followed the link that Dan Vad mentioned in a post referring to his HMS Vulture build. This proved to be a great help and I can see myself visiting this regularly as my build continues - thank's Dan!
 
In the end you just have to dive in and have a go...
 

 
Using a combination of thin brass sheet and acrylic templates pinned to the aft deadwood the sides were reduced to the required shape.
 

 
My first attempt at tapering the lower end of the inner post was not as successful as I had hoped so a second had to be made.
 
The rebates were then cut in the stern post with a scalpel and lower area worked to match the ajoining components prior to being glued together.
 
A carving knife proved an effective way to cut the curving rebate in the stem and subsequent shaping of the fore deadwood. I expect there will be a bit more work ahead on these later.
 

 

 
At last we have a keel!
 

 

 

 
... and work begins on the frames ......
 

 
Cheers,
 
Graham.

Some more work on the bow and catheads.
If I thought the bow was a challenge so far, I have to think again.
Especially painting the figure head took a long time and many corrections. Partly it's because of my clumsiness, but also the detailing by Caldercraft is poor. That mostly applies to the coat of arms and the flowers below it.
Another thing they could improve upon are the Cherubim and Seraphim. The original are (somewhat) chubby small boys, but over the years they have grown to be young man (Caldercraft must have thought). Additionally it took quite some filing to detach the arms from the bodies.
I modified the catheads slightly by making them a bit thicker (horizontally) and by including three brass sheaves.
 
Okay, some pictures:
First the beak head platforms and stools: the knight-heads in position,each with a pin to attach the boomkins. The pillars of the marines'walk are also in place. That turned out to be a little problem, because they are supposed to be positioned flush with the forward face of the third head timber, but there it found the previously glued pieces of walnut, Some filing of both pieces solved the problem and gave a very sturdy connection.
 
Then the figure head. Though on the picture it all seems to be the same yellow paint, in reality the yellow in the figure head is gold paint.
 
The strings of the harp couldn't be painted, they are too thin. I used 0.25x4mm styrene strips from which I cut very thin strips, which I glued in the harp to mimic the strings.
 
The catheads:
 
and view from the main mast, with the marines' walk in position:
 
That leaves me with the connecting strips between the cathead knee and the upper rail, before I can move to the poop deck.

Thanks for all your nice comments, I'm back in the workshop now after a long absence.
 

Paul, thank you for your comments, and for bringing to my attention that each row overlaps by 1/3 and not by 1/2. Yes true, I agree with you, the caldercraft copper plates are also not correct as they are laid one next to the other, no overlapping.  I will probably leave the planking showing.
 
Richard, thank you for your info, I will keep it in mind if I decide to copper.
 
Christos,  thank you, I am am definitely enjoying building this ship, moving slowly, because I work on it when I really feel like,  I don't work on it to get a job  over and done with.  I like to keep it a hobby not a job to finish.  Well, the lights on the upper deck have to be different as they will be showing not like the other decks below.  I have already been thinking about it and have tried a prototype of a lantern.  This is what I have come up with until now.
 
 

I sourced copper tubes with an inside diameter same as the outside diameter of the LED's I am using.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cut a small piece and saw off a couple of slots on each side.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Slide them in each other.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And this is the result.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Still needs some finishing touches.  When it is to my satisfaction I will prepare a few of them.
 
Robert

Hi,
 
I managed to find a local supplier of 0.5 mm brass wire and my first attempt at a frame now has the pins I mentioned earlier.
 

 
I decided to focus on the stern and to this end I've worked on the transom pieces. I made the lowest filling transom first and to be honest it was a bit of a disaster.  Subsequent attempts were more successful. 
 

 

 

 
 The filling, deck and wing transoms have been cut to profile and the joints adjusted to ensure a good fit with the inner post.  They have not yet been glued into place.  Inner surfaces have been given an initial fairing but I'm thinking of leaving the outside faces and the ends until the appropriate frames are ready.  This way I can refine the fit to the frames and they will be better supported and stronger to withstand shaping.
 
Next task will be the bow - once I've worked out which version of the Hawse to use. There seem to be two versions: 'Hawse, 1 - 5' and 'Hawsetimbers 1 - 6'. I think it's the latter .....
 
Cheers,
 
Graham.
 

Hi,
Now that the dust has settled on the start of a new school year I've managed devote a bit of time again to this project and have made some more progress ......
 
Shaping the fore and aft deadwoods was holding me up a bit as I tried to make sense of the various sectional profile drawings. My inexperience was evident as I tried to juggle the various profiles and much time was spent working through the other build logs in this section. They certainly helped, and then I came across and followed the link that Dan Vad mentioned in a post referring to his HMS Vulture build. This proved to be a great help and I can see myself visiting this regularly as my build continues - thank's Dan!
 
In the end you just have to dive in and have a go...
 

 
Using a combination of thin brass sheet and acrylic templates pinned to the aft deadwood the sides were reduced to the required shape.
 

 
My first attempt at tapering the lower end of the inner post was not as successful as I had hoped so a second had to be made.
 
The rebates were then cut in the stern post with a scalpel and lower area worked to match the ajoining components prior to being glued together.
 
A carving knife proved an effective way to cut the curving rebate in the stem and subsequent shaping of the fore deadwood. I expect there will be a bit more work ahead on these later.
 

 

 
At last we have a keel!
 

 

 

 
... and work begins on the frames ......
 

 
Cheers,
 
Graham.

Hi Robert,
Superb planking like yours needs to be celebrated, not hidden. 
Any mileage in considering plating just a small area? ..... probably not...
I do know that if I had achieved this level of craftsmanship on my own model the planks would stay fully exposed - and I'm speaking as a fellow builder who completed copper plating just under an hour ago!
 
Cheers,
 
Graham.

Hi Robert,
Superb planking like yours needs to be celebrated, not hidden. 
Any mileage in considering plating just a small area? ..... probably not...
I do know that if I had achieved this level of craftsmanship on my own model the planks would stay fully exposed - and I'm speaking as a fellow builder who completed copper plating just under an hour ago!
 
Cheers,
 
Graham.

The Jury has spoken, 'NO COPPER PLATES'.  Don, Nils, Ian, Robert, Nigel, Joe, Heinz, Graham, Rich, Richard, thank you all for your comments and for your advise.  Thank you all for the likes as well.  
 
Nils, coming from you is an honour. You have outstanding builds.
 
Heinz, I was kind of expecting that kind of a reply from you.  Ok no copper plates.
 
Graham,  still a lot more challenges along the way, we leave the celebrations for later on.
 
Richard, thank you for the gun images.  Very informative.
 
 
Robert
 
  
 
 

Hi Robert,
Superb planking like yours needs to be celebrated, not hidden. 
Any mileage in considering plating just a small area? ..... probably not...
I do know that if I had achieved this level of craftsmanship on my own model the planks would stay fully exposed - and I'm speaking as a fellow builder who completed copper plating just under an hour ago!
 
Cheers,
 
Graham.

Hi,
 
I managed to find a local supplier of 0.5 mm brass wire and my first attempt at a frame now has the pins I mentioned earlier.
 

 
I decided to focus on the stern and to this end I've worked on the transom pieces. I made the lowest filling transom first and to be honest it was a bit of a disaster.  Subsequent attempts were more successful. 
 

 

 

 
 The filling, deck and wing transoms have been cut to profile and the joints adjusted to ensure a good fit with the inner post.  They have not yet been glued into place.  Inner surfaces have been given an initial fairing but I'm thinking of leaving the outside faces and the ends until the appropriate frames are ready.  This way I can refine the fit to the frames and they will be better supported and stronger to withstand shaping.
 
Next task will be the bow - once I've worked out which version of the Hawse to use. There seem to be two versions: 'Hawse, 1 - 5' and 'Hawsetimbers 1 - 6'. I think it's the latter .....
 
Cheers,
 
Graham.
 

Hi,
The workshop is a school workshop. On a typical day I can share it with approximately a hundred students, in groups of about twenty, ranging in age from 11 - 18. This particular corner I claim as my own, the bench is mine and will be leaving the school with me when I eventually retire, as will my Poolewood wood turning lathe which also graces the room. I will, however, need to sort out a workshop of my own, when that day comes, that will be big enough to accommodate this equipment and all the other bits and pieces that have accumulated over the years! 
My other project, HMS Victory, is being constructed in the 'spare' bedroom at home, much smaller and 'cosy', to put it politely. 
I get to work very early to avoid travel congestion - the workshop is quiet, there are no students around, for almost an hour my time is my own ........... is there a better way to start a working day?
.... and at the other end of the day, when they've gone home, planning and marking is up to date and any meetings are finished ........... 
 
Thanks for the comments and 'likes', the feedback is much appreciated.
 
Cheers,
 
Graham